St. John's University Athletics
Women's Basketball Inks Two From Connecticut
11/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's women's basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico announced Wednesday that Keylantra Langley and Briana Brown have signed National Letters of Intent and will join the Red Storm at the start of the 2010-11 academic year.
"Keylantra Langley and Briana Brown are tremendous recruits for our program," Barnes Arico said. "Coming off our nationally-rated signing class from a year ago, the addition of Briana and Keylantra gives us three-straight highly-talented signing classes. Keylantra and Briana are both sensational athletes. They played together when they were younger, so they are familiar with each other and they will be able to transition well into our program.
"Both Briana and Keylantra come from outstanding families, and I am really looking forward to coaching them. They are the kind of players that every coach wants in their program because they work really hard on the court and they are great in the classroom."
Keylantra Langley 5-10 G Lauralton Hall
Rated the 37th-best prospect in the country and the 13th best at her position on ESPN.com, Langley is a dynamic guard that can do it all. An extremely well-rounded player, the Bridgeport, Conn., native is a slasher who takes advantage of her size at the point position to create mismatches. Fast and quick, she can hit from anywhere on the court, and creates scoring chances by driving to the basket and drawing fouls. Her up-tempo style of play will allow her to contribute immediately in the Red Storm rotation. Out of Lauralton Hall, Langley averaged 15.2 points during the 2008-09 campaign, including turning in a 32-point performance in a Class LL second-round playoff victory over Hamden. A two-time Connecticut Post All-Star, she has helped her high school team win over 20 games two-straight seasons.
"Keylantra is a win-first kind of player," Barnes Arico said. "She wants to win a championship and will do whatever it takes to achieve that, whether it is to get a great assist or score the winning basket. She is very unselfish. Keylantra's athleticism and quickness will allow her to be a successful player in the best conference in the country, the BIG EAST."
Briana Brown 5-9 G King Low Heywood Thomas
Brown is highly-talented player that utilizes her athleticism to play strong on both ends of the court. A prolific scorer, she has already amassed 1,658 points through three seasons at King Low Heywood Thomas, and is only one of three players in school history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau on the girls side. She possesses a multitude of skills in scoring, as she can score off the catch, can take the ball to the rim and can score off the bounce. Brown is incredibly quick and a creative playmaker that is strong on the glass. In her junior campaign, the Norwalk, Conn., native averaged a double-double with 22.1 points and 15.3 rebounds, and posted 4.1 steals and 2.9 assists per game. Brown had her best performance of the season against Kingswood-Oxford on Feb. 6, 2009, scoring 32 points and grabbing 27 rebounds.
"Briana is a great athlete," Barnes Arico said. "Her fire and tenacity will allow her to be a lockdown defender. In addition, she brings us another strong scoring presence on the floor with her ability to score from any spot on the court. Briana is going to shine playing alongside some of the players we already have in the program."
Fresh off its third-round appearance in the Postseason WNIT, its sixth-consecutive trip to the BIG EAST Tournament and a 19-15 record, St. John's will open its highly anticipated 2009-10 campaign when it travels to face Stony Brook on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Red Storm returns four starters and six letterwinners and features a five-person freshman class that was nationally rated in the top 15 by ESPN.com and Blue Star. Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Da'Shena Stevens, who finished second on the team in scoring with 11.9 ppg and first in rebounding with 6.6, along with senior Kelly McManmon, who averaged a career-high 10.4 points last year and shot 38.8 percent from the floor and 39.7 from long distance, lead the cast of returning players.
